2012 U.S. Presidential Election

[a completely inoffensive name]

Mitt Romney was, of course, essentially correct. There is a whole portion of the population who coast through school with C’s. They party and drink their way through college (if they make it that far), finishing with some worthless communications or philosophy degree and no real skills. They put in the bare minimum effort required at some dead end job just to have enough money to support their social life. They have to have the latest Apple product, regardless of how empty their savings account is. Then they wake up at 45 and wonder why they have become such losers. They are entitled to their own interpretation of a ‘middle class lifestyle’ (whatever that is) and it is the government’s/successful people’s fault that they do not have it. It is always easier to blame personal failure on uncontrollable factors than personal decisions. The constant, monotonous droning on about the nameless, faceless ‘system’ and how it is rigged against the common man is just the latest incarnation of this phenomenon. At their core, people are either victims or fighters.

Just as with Reagan’s ‘welfare queen’ comment, Romney’s 47% will be held up by the media literati as proof of his heartlessness. However, those of us who live in the real world know all too well that he was tapping into a vein of truth. Welfare queens do exist, and they are legion. I used to evict them nearly every day. They were the people that ‘struggle’ to hold down a menial job in food service while caring for their three babies by three different men. The government paid for their food, diapers, and most of their rent, but they still couldn’t come up with the $50 a month their case worker asked them to pay to teach them ‘responsibility’. It never failed, though, that as they waited in my office to recount their sob story about how hard life had been for them, they would be texting on their iPhones. And when I told them to tell it to someone who gave a **** (in the nicest, most professional manner possible), they invariably gamed the system to live rent free for as long as possible. The truth is that these people are worthless dregs; their only value to the greater economy being raw consumption. It is high time that they are called out, instead of made to believe that their circumstances dictate their condition.

The realist in me sees this as very damaging and potentially fatal for the Romney campaign. However, my more optimistic side hopes that this may not be so bad. If you think about it, the people who will be offended by this are not going to vote for Romney anyway. Further, the comment will likely endear him to many Republicans. So we are left with the ~6% of people still undecided. Their interpretation of these remarks will likely be split somewhere down the middle – some agreeing with Romney’s fundamental characterization of the electorate and some not. So, essentially, this whole ‘scandal’ could be a wash, and may even help Romney with his ‘vision problem’. It certainly draws a sharp contrast with Obama’s view.

Personal anecdote != reality

Of those that don't pay income tax, the majority pay payroll tax as well as state and local taxes such as sales tax. Obviously, these people are lazy at their jobs because they are not making enough to be taxed. Of the remaining ~1/3 that don't pay income or payroll tax, it is composed of people making under $20,000 a year and senior citizens who are retired.

In other words, PJ is a cynical ass because he deals with the worst people every day and assumes that since he meets so many for his job that the actual statistics must be representative of his interactions.

I worked at McDonalds all this summer. I got called "uncivilized" due to taking too much time to provide change, I was able to memorize the names and orders of six different regulars who came every day at a specific time. I was cursed at, called names and once almost had food thrown at me. But I don't come home and say, "gee 90% of people who make things difficult are those 40-65 years old (which was true), **** all the Baby Boomers, who are so entitled."